Personal View site logo
Moire Focusing - Gh2, possibly other cameras
  • DUCKDUCK

    So far, I'm just playing with video on my GH2, but I've found something curious while trying to learn to pull focus; the touchscreen seems to show moire whenever sharp details are in focus. On my screen, I see a sort of rainbow pattern where in-focus highlights should be. So far, this actually seems to be a reliable indicator of what's in focus. With catch-lights in eyes, along with numerous still scenes, I've reliably found that whatever was ringed with moire was perfectly in focus when examined after the fact...

  • 6 Replies sorted by
  • Ian_TIan_T

    I've never read where others say the same but I agree....it does help with focusing.

  • RamboRambo

    Yep, i look for it as an indicator all the time, especially hair, patterns or series of lines. It's similar to the old Viewfinders on early SLR cameras.

  • JackBayerJackBayer

    I also def. agree. There´s a post from Stu Maschwitz on prolost.com where he describes the same thing for 5D MII and III: Low res aliasing shows up where things are in focus. On the GH1&2 however I can only go that "route" on the EVF. I can´t see sh** on the LCD.

  • balazerbalazer

    That gave me an idea: what if the camera could assist manual focus by showing a number or meter with the calculated contrast - the same one calculated for auto focus?

  • JackBayerJackBayer

    Well the idea sounds really good. So... VK?

  • DUCKDUCK

    Good to know I'm not crazy; I thought this was a useful technique, and was quite surprised I couldn't find any mention of it.

    @JackBayer - I've been filming mostly black and white so far; on the LCD the rainbows just fly off the screen. I actually find the effect with the EVF much less pronounced, as the moire stays black and white.

    In b&w, with the lcd, there's really no need for a numerical indicator; I just turn the focus ring till the object in question is ready for a pride parade. It'd be really cool if we could monitor in b&w while actually filming in color, but I'd imagine this is beyond the constraints of the hack...

Add a Comment